In the aftermath of a disappointing day at Lake O’Hara, I had hopes for better luck on Day 3. My plan was to shoot sunrise at Moraine Lake, about a 20-25 minute drive from where I was staying at Lake Louise Village. The forecast was for mostly cloudy conditions, but I was hoping that I’d get lucky. As I made the drive, in the dark, down the winding Moraine Lake Road, I could see no stars when I glanced out the window. As a result, I expected no sunrise this morning.

There was some ambient light when I reached Moraine Lake itself, and because of the time I took to scout the location on Day 1 , I immediately headed to a spot along the lake shore, rather than climbing up to the rock pile, as many photographers automatically do. The sky was indeed mostly cloudy, but there was…